24 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



were released alon^ the coast from Beaufort, N. C, to Brunswick, 

 Ga. Returns have been secured in Florida from these releases, show- 

 ing that at least some of the North Carolina shrimp normally migrate 

 to Florida during the winter. Apparently then, the South Atlantic 

 shrimp fishery should be considered as a single unit rather than as 

 separate fisheries, each limited within the boundaries of one of the 

 several States involved. Any regulatory measures or lack of regu- 

 lations in one section will affect not only that section but other por- 

 tions of the fishery as well; hence, it is advisable that the States of 

 North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida attempt a 

 cooperative management of their shrimp fisheries, with regulations 

 as nearly uniform as possible. 



Present knowledge of the movements of shrimp suggests many 

 additional questions. What is the fate of the large shrimp that 

 migrate from the northern areas into the Florida winter fishery? 

 Do these shrimp normally return north in the spring to spawn? 

 If there is a return migration, do the shrimp come back to spawn 

 in the locality in which they were reared or is the return more or 

 less haphazard? Is the fishery so intense that practically all the 

 winter migrants are captured before they have an opportunity to 

 return north? What changes can be expected in the future pojDula- 

 tion of shrimp from a more intensive fishery? To what sizes of 

 shrimp and at what seasons of the year can regulatory measures be 

 most profitably applied ? Do the shrimp perish at the age of 1 year 

 or is there a breeding resem^e in offshore areas beyond the range of 

 the present commercial fishery? 



It is expected that the current tagging ]:)rogram will solve many 

 of the problems relating to migrations along the South Atlantic 

 coast. These studies, in addition to yielding positive knowledge of 

 the movements of the shrimp, are supplying data on the intensity 

 of the fishery and the rate of growth of the various sizes of com- 

 mercial shrimp at all seasons of the year. 



The extremely important question of a possible breeding reserve 

 of shrimp more than 1 year of age in offshore waters along the South 

 Atlantic coast cannot be answered satisfactorily however, until ex- 

 ploratory fishing can be performed in the deeper wateris. The 

 Pelican may be used in such investigations at some future date. 

 Thorough studies of the coastal population show that no breeding re- 

 serve is present in any of the coastal areas; therefore if such stock 

 exists it must be in offshore waters. 



The Gvjf Fishery. — The most striking development in the Gulf 

 shrimp fishery during 1937 was the large summer and fall run in 

 Louisiana and Mississippi. The run was considerably greater than 

 that of the years immediately preceding and was confined to the 

 above-named States. This run further emphasizes the fact that there 

 are good and bad years with respect to the production of shrimp and 

 that the number of spawners is not the important factor in determin- 

 ing production of young. The 1937 Gulf spring fishery which rep- 

 resents the spawning population was extremely poor and barring the 

 possibility of a breeding reserve of shrimp more than a year old re- 

 maining in the deeper waters beyond the range of the commercial 

 fishery, a very small group of spawners was successful in producing 



